


Free, like Karnaca Birds

by shortcircuitify



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, High Chaos (Dishonored), Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 13:03:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8714986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortcircuitify/pseuds/shortcircuitify
Summary: But he waits, for surely such goddesses do not wade with river rats.





	

 At the end of his days, Corvo will feel the weight of a life thoroughly lived weighing on his chest, blood pooling in his mouth, dying in his bed choking for air. Ironic and strange, for a man once so alert, drowned out by the echoing cries that deafen his ears when he thinks about reclaiming the throne of his daughter.

He will wonder to himself if this is where Anton disappeared to, all those years ago, when his brain shattered and there was no place left for him. Corvo thinks that this moment happened for him years ago, when his Empress’s blood ran down his palms and his daughter watched, the darkness of the void surrounding them both. It just took years of slit throats and her heart pounding in his hand for him to truly break, weighed down by invisible burdens on his shoulders.

And he knows, when the Outsider’s black eyes blink down at him a last time, he does not deserve to see her face. Love seeps through his veins when he thinks of her face, her soft skin under his calloused palm, when they were both young with stars in their eyes.

And then, there she is, for Corvo’s life has been nothing if not difficult, stained red on the edges and knuckles bruised black.

There are no lines creasing her face from years of stress, and she looks younger than he ever imagined she could be – free like the birds sailing on Karnaca winds. Her smile, lost in the labyrinth in his mind after years of altering and cracking upon itself, is radiant. He stares at her a moment, the way her hair flows around her face, eyes focused solely on him, and he feels his heart crack all over again. A lump forms in his throat, eyes screwed tight in fear of the tears waiting to spill.

But he waits, for surely such goddesses do not wade with river rats.

He balls his hands into fists, and feels years of blood and decay roll off of their sharp edges, fleeing into the cracks between here, this paradise on eternity, and the void.

But he does not feel lighter until, with her soft hands and accepting eyes, she runs her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Embraces him with a warmth he has long forgotten to the cooling of her blood upon his palms.

And she says, “Corvo,” and he can believe he is forgiven.

**Author's Note:**

> I started a high chaos Corvo run and, man, is the heart making it hard to do it :(


End file.
